01 September 2023 , 14:27
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Cole Palmer's £42.5million switch from Manchester City to Chelsea shocked those of us who thought he was destined for regular first-team football at the Etihad.
But it underlines how much City's academy conveyor belt of talent has become a vast money-making machine – whether or not graduates go on to become central figures in manager Pep Guardiola's plans.
Although Phil Foden and Rico Lewis have shown there is a pathway from the youth team to first XI at the club, City have sold nearly £100million worth of home-grown talent in this transfer window alone.
And the disparity between City and Manchester United is not just becoming magnified by the gap between them in the Premier League table. It's currently being reflected in the transfer fees they are reportedly making from selling young prospects.
Don't get me wrong: United's record of producing outstanding talent on the vine at Old Trafford remains enviable, and Marcus Rashford is a shining example of it. But for Palmer to leave City, a month after he scored in the Super Cup and Community Shield, suggests Guardiola must have immense trust in his squad depth.
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Most people thought Palmer would take over the vacancy left by Riyad Mahrez, who made 47 appearances in City's Treble-winning campaign. Is he going to a club where he would expect to get more game time?
Chelsea still have a surfeit of attacking players who can't all be accommodated in the team at once – including Raheem Sterling, who has started the season in superb form cutting in off the right flank, where Palmer looked a perfect fit as Mahrez's replacement at the Etihad.
Palmer leaves City a month after scoring in the UEFA Super Cup and Community Shield (Getty Images)I can only assume that new Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has promised him more minutes, but how is he going to be more instrumental with the influx of so many players at Stamford Bridge?
Meanwhile, City's model for producing young talent shows no sign of grinding to a halt. In previous years, they have nurtured and sold on the likes of Romeo Lavia (for £10m), Jadon Sancho (£8m) and Rabbi Matondo (£11m).
This summer their sales include Shea Charles (£10.5m), James Trafford (£15m), Carlos Borges (£12m) and Palmer (£42m). Contrast those sums with the academy graduates United have moved on.
20-year-old goalkeeper James Trafford joined Burnley for £15m this summer (Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
19-year-old midfielder Shea Charles also made a £10.5m switch to Southampton (MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)With the exception of goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who will cost Crystal Palace up to £20m with add-ons, most of the youngsters leaving Old Trafford have been going for less eye-watering sums.
Tahith Chong, Teden Mengi, Zidane Iqbal, Ethan Laird and my son Charlie all left United this summer for appreciably smaller fees – even though some of them had Champions League experience.
So here's a question for the fans: Do you prefer to see home-grown lads in your first team, or the model in which they are sold on for big money with little first team experience?
Both Nick Cox (United) and Jason Wilcox (formerly at City, now Southampton's director of football) have done terrific jobs in bringing through young players from their academies. But why do City bring in significantly higher transfer fees for their home-grown youngsters when their first-team experience is not markedly greater than their United counterparts?
One way or another, the figures prove two things: Firstly, that only a small percentage of home-grown kids are making it into the first team on the Premier League's upper slopes; and secondly, that there's a hugely lucrative market for top academy kids. But for the likes of Alvaro Fernandez, who was player of the season on loan at Preston last term, it begs an important question.
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If he can't get into Erik ten Hag's first-team picture at United when Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia are injured, and United turn to Tottenham reserve full-back Sergio Reguilon instead, when is he going to break into the side? Meanwhile, City's title rivals must be swallowing hard and thinking: If Guardiola can afford to let Palmer leave, they will be frighteningly hard to beat again this season.